England

If it is just links courses you want to play then there are less choices along the east coast. The west coast offers some great links, particularly around Liverpool and don't overlook Wales where there are about 16 good links courses of which four or five I would rate highly on your preference list. Heading further south towards Cornwall there are some wonderful courses such as Burnham and Berrow, Saunton East and St Enodoc. The south coast mainly offers up good choices in the vicinity of the London area. Deal of course is always on the visit list because of Royal St George's and Royal Cinque Ports and then heading west along the south coast you ought to try to get a game at Rye and the lesser known Hayling.

If you want to play a number of the best heathland courses then you should think in terms of a trip from Leeds to London (ie Surrey).

I will comment on your golfing options by first covering the east coast, south east, west coast (including Wales) and finally the inland courses.

Accommodation wise I have used a mixture of hotels, B&B's and dormy house lodgings at the course where applicable. A good B&B is hard to beat and I always place a strong emphasis on several aspects -

A good size room with a firm bed and a decent shower

A quality breakfast

Good secure off-street parking so that you can leave cases/clubs in the car.

It can often help when the proprietors have a golfing background. I won't book any B&B that doesn't have a good website with photos.

Occasionaly you feel like a change so a small hotel near the golf club can work but, once again, I place an emphasis on the secure parking aspect.

You don't want to be moving on every single night so,subject to your itinerary, try to have 2 or 3 nights in the one place in some areas. If we go to the Liverpool area for about a week then we keep coming back to what we think is the best B&B in the area, namely Blundellsands Guesthouse run by Liz Marshall. .

Some courses are difficult to access and staying on site can guarantee you a tee time. We spent 3 delightful nights in the dormy house at Royal Porthcawl in Wales - less than 50 yards to the first tee and the sea.